Hello, I'm really benefiting from all the posts and I just wanted to run something by you all.

So glad you're here and reading through the posts. Many people have had their hearts touched by Jesus and have been loved out of sin and cradled in His arms. This is what He is so good at @SR-Coker, and I'm so eager to hear He is doing that with you too.

Do you think there's ever a time in our lives when it's too late to turn to Christ?

Yes there most certainly is, and that time is when we are dead. "It is appointed unto man to die once and then face the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

In the days of Noah there was a day of grace, a day when Noah's preaching should have reached the hearts of the people, his warnings should have been heeded while the door of the ark was open. Once God "shut him in" the day of grace was over.

Right now is your "day of grace" @SR-Coker. "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you" (2 Corinthians 6:2). So we notice that there is a "time of favor" and a "day of salvation."

That time and day is right now my friend. Right now you can ask God to show you the cross where He put Jesus to death to pay for your sin and show that you are now entirely forgiven and completely accepted by God. It's not too late for you, right now.

I feel convicted about my sinful lifestyle but I'm 63. Is it too late for me to accept Jesus as my Savior?

This is the work of the Holy Spirit (see John 16:8), and it is a very good work. He is showing you your sin so that He might show you your Savior. He has lifted Jesus Christ up on a cross, covered Jesus in your sin, hung Him there in open shame, and all so that you would be completely forgiven and entirely released from your debt of sin.

It's a wonderful exercise to look at a Scripture and really think about it. For instance, try looking at this with me:

Acts 13:39 (NIV) Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

"Through Him..." On your own, you are like me, sinful and deceptive and deserving of hell. But "Through Him", that is, through Jesus you and I are forgiven and free!

"Everyone who believes..." Do you see how you, @SR-Coker, can fit right in the word "everyone"? It doesn't matter the depth or extent of your sin, because Jesus' death on the cross and His gift of forgiveness is for "everyone who believes!"

"...is set free from every sin." Because Jesus hung on the cross and shed His blood you, if you believe, are set free from every sin! Every sin! This means you are freed from all guilt because Jesus took your guilt on Himself. It means you are freed from all condemnation, for Jesus was condemned in your place. It means you are freed from the power of sin for Jesus crucified the power of sin on the cross. It can no longer drag you under and suffocate you and cause you to live like that anymore. You're "free from every sin!"

"...a justification..." To be free from sin means to be justified before God. Jesus was crucified so that you would be justified. He died in your place to remove your burden of debt and requirement to pay. He justified you from all sin, declaring you to be innocent as He was declared guilty.

"...you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses." Under the Law of Moses people had to try to obtain their own righteousness by their own efforts. Under the gospel Jesus Christ obtained it for us. Jesus' perfect life and substitutional death stands in the place of everyone who believes. You couldn't obtain this under the Law but Jesus obtained it for you under the gospel.

@SR-Coker, did you hear the gospel just now? Do you see Jesus suffering and dying in your place and rising from the dead, all to forgive and justify you before God? Do you see it? If so, will you believe that message right now?

I come now to Christ as my atonement for my sins and I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. May He erase all my doubts. I believe He is able to save me. Thank You, Jesus, for dying for me and for taking the punishment I deserve. Help me to serve You the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you all for your kind feedback.

I was afraid that I had resisted Christ too long. But I trust that He has come in to my life. I’ve been going to church and reading my Bible all my life but there was never any conviction. All of a sudden I was being convicted and at the same time I was reading that I had resisted Christ too long. But would I want to be saved if God weren’t working?

@Mike-Cleveland so is there a time while I'm alive that God will shut the door? I'm talking about before we die.

Greetings @SR-Coker, thank you for considering this further. It's very important to put your faith in the actual words you read in God's Word.

So for example:

Psalms 95:7-8 (NIV-WS) for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness.

The writer to the Hebrews picks up on this passage and explains it. After he quotes the above passage he says:

Hebrews 3:12-13 (NIV-WS) See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

It is clear from this passage that the writer is focusing on the word "today". So He exhorts us not to turn away from the living God but rather encourage each other daily...."as long as it is called Today".

In other words, eternity is coming where there are no days and nights, and then we are beyond God's grace, the door is shut, the time of God's favor and the "day" of salvation are ended.

So today it is still "today" and God is calling you to believe the good news that Jesus took your punishment that you would be pardoned. Our only role is not to try to discover when the door is shut, but rather to believe "today", right now, this moment.

@SR-Coker it seems that something is troubling you, like maybe you've been taught something different. Can you explain more thoroughly so we can get to the bottom of it?

I come now to Christ as my atonement for my sins and I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. May He erase all my doubts. I believe He is able to save me. Thank You, Jesus, for dying for me and for taking the punishment I deserve. Help me to serve You the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you all for your kind feedback.

This brings my heart so much joy, @SR-Coker, to see you putting faith in the crucified/risen Savior, who has loved you and given Himself for you. He has taken your sin away and given you His righteousness:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV-WS) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This was foretold in the Old Testament:

Psalms 103:1-5 (NIV-WS) Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

And

Psalms 32:1-2 (NIV-WS) Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

@Mike-Cleveland so is there a time while I'm alive that God will shut the door? I'm talking about before we die.

Are you asking if you can lose your salvation? I saw where you said you put your faith in Christ, receiving forgiveness of sins, which means new life as well. So are you asking if this new life is temporary? So that you can lose what you've received and God then shut the door?

@Mike-Cleveland thank you. I have been reading some things that teach that our hearts can get too hard to be saved. John Piper has a few scary articles that have made me think it's too late. But if I'm convicted of sin, doesn't that mean that the Holy Spirit is convicting me of sin? This is a very frightening place to be. Thank you so much for your very good response. You've given me a lot to think about. My mentor, Pat Gause, has been wonderful too.

@Mike-Cleveland no, I don't believe one can lose their salvation. I just wonder if I ever had it. But I was reading on Godlife.com in their Look to Jesus lesson, that if I've trusted Christ for my salvation, then I'm saved. I just haven't felt His presence lately. Thank you for your kindness. This last summer I almost lost my husband to heart problems. I realize I've been depressed. Hence I'm taking the depression course. It's really helpful to write about it here. Thank you for all you do.

@Mike-Cleveland. Mike, I just began the course on purity.. I didn't ask for a mentor when I signed up, but now I believe I am going to really someone to help me.
I am so spiritually depressed, that even my answers are leading me down a spiral, with no escape. Is it possible at this point?
Brad

@Mike-Cleveland. Mike, I just began the course on purity.. I didn't ask for a mentor when I signed up, but now I believe I am going to really someone to help me.
I am so spiritually depressed, that even my answers are leading me down a spiral, with no escape. Is it possible at this point?
Brad

Brad, Kevin Broyles has offered to walk with you so you’ll be in good hands brother. We will get this set up for you as soon as we can. We’re praying for you Brad!

It's more about believing the gospel. By that I mean, we need to see Jesus taking our sins on Himself and suffering under the weight of them and dying to pay the price for them. And believe He is doing that for us. Same with His resurrection, believing that He came up out of the grave for us, believe we are justified in Him because of it and that we ourselves our raised out of our graves of sin with Him.

So right now you should turn to the cross and see Jesus dying for Thomas! Do you believe your sins are dying there with Him Thomas? That's what is needed is for you to receive real forgiveness from Jesus by seeing Him shed His blood just for you.

That's what is important to pray about, such as "Father in heaven, help me please to see Jesus' dying for MY sin and removing MY sins from me as far as the East is from the West. Please open my eyes and shine the light of the gospel in my heart, where I see Jesus wearing a crown of thorns for me, being nailed to a cross for me, taking my place and dying my death. And Lord, please give me faith to believe this message, to receive it and rejoice in it."

John 6:47-51 (NIV-WS) Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Hi! Lil Mogle, mentor here.
I have a student who is having trouble with her account. Her name is Debbie Sheat and she is on lesson 9 in the Weight Loss course. But when she tries to put in her answers it won't take them, or submit them. She had to start the lesson all over again. But when she did this, it wouldn't even let her submit an answer to question #1. I suggested she contact the SCF staff, but is there anything else she should do? Thanks.

@Mike-Cleveland hello I am doing the weight loss course. I dont get stomach rumbles much and I just want to eat when I feel really hungry. Is that ok. because sometimes i go all day without eating and I dont think i can do that anymore

God has designed our bodies in such a way that stomach growls are the indication that we have assimilated all previous intake of food and are now in need of nutrition. When I first started eating this way, since I was obese, I was waiting sometimes 24 to 28 hours before my belly would growl. Now it’s more often, depending on the size of meal I eat.

One thing you might do is experiment with meal size and see how much sooner you get hunger pangs when eating a small meal verses when eating a larger portion.

Additionally, exercise will cause us to receive the growls sooner as our bodies burn what we fed them sooner than if we did not exercise. For instance, if I do an hour of hiking I know I will be able to eat twice during the day, whereas if I don’t exercise I’ll only eat once, unless the meal is smaller then I’ll be able to eat twice.

Waiting to receive stomach growls before eating is the way in which bondage to food is entirely broken, our idol of food is smashed to the ground and we find true freedom. And it’s amazing because once we are hungry (as indicated by hunger pangs) we can literally eat anything we want, and as much of it as we want. The other day when I got hungry I had a Big Mac and fries, and on the way home enjoyed a delicious Dairy Queen Blizzard. I could do that entirely guilt free, knowing I would not eat again until hungry. Sure enough, it took me 24 hours before I was hungry again. This is perfectly fine because without a constant supply of carbs and sugar in our system our bodies have to burn fat.

On the other hand, sometimes, if I know I will be eating lunch with my family, I will have a small breakfast; Carnation chocolate milk drink or small bowl of oatmeal, or something, so that I know I’ll be hungry by lunch. Then I’ll enjoy a nice lunch with my family, eating until full and that usually lasts the rest of the day.

Scripture mainly shows people eating twice a day, morning and evening (Exodus 16:12, etc.). Of course, that depends on activity level and size of meals. Either way, as we follow our God-given hunger signals (belly growls) we know we can enjoy whatever foods we want and in whatever portion size we would like.